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TALKING POINTS

What we're talking about following the Eagles' victory over the Giants last night:

1. Wildcat specialist Michael Vick played quarterback in his first touch of the night: He rolled right and threw back across his body, a bit, 32 yards to DeSean Jackson to set up the Eagles’ first touchdown. Vick also ran in from the 1 in the second half, his third touchdown of the season.

2. Defensive end Trent Cole, again, was Mr. Big Play: He forced Brandon Jacobs’s fumble that Sheldon Brown returned 60 yards to make it 14-0 just 5 minutes, 20 seconds into the game.

3. Punt returner DeSean Jackson somehow … somehow … jogged right, reversed field, outran everyone, then hesitated as he approached punter Jeff Feagles, blew past Feagles, stayed inbounds and finished off a 72-yard punt return, a team-record third. Jackson also caught a 60-yard touchdown pass and finished with 261 total yards. He missed the last game with a concussion, but last night he did not look concussed.

4. What?!? The officials blew a call on the Eagles’ 2-minute drive when the ball was knocked from Donovan McNabb’s hand, no one acted as if it was fumbled (it was, really), one official charged in from the sideline waving his arms and blowing his whistle, calling it an incomplete pass … though the ball was spotted where the non-fumble/fumble landed. It eventually was ruled a fumble and dead. Essentially, the officials screwed up and cost the Eagles 10 yards. The Birds rebounded with a 44-yard bomb to Jackson. It was one of several horrendous calls by a sketchy prime-time crew.

5. The defense, supposedly bolstered b y the return of injured linebacker Akeem Jordan and suspended cornerback Joselio Hanson, gave up 38 points, their worst performance since incendiary New Orleans torched them in a Week Two loss.

6. The teams scrummed it up after the Eagles' fumble recovery with 8 seconds to play, precipitated, apparently, by Giants center Shaun O'Hara and replied to by Trent Cole, who got thrown out of the game for throwing punches.

-- Marcus Hayes

NUMBERS TO PONDER

* For the eighth time in 13 games, the Eagles scored on their first possession. They’ve scored 44 points this year on their first possession.

* The Eagles scored a single-season high 85 points against the Giants this season, their highest ever vs. the Giants since they scored 80 in 1948.

* Sheldon Brown’s 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter was the fifth of his career, tying him with Eric Allen and Seth Joyner for most fumbles returns for TDs by an Eagle.

* Jackson notched his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season with his 178-yard performance. As a team, the Eagles now have eight 100-yard receiving performances.

* The Eagles have outscored their opponents in the first half this season, 233-132. They’ve been outscored in the second half, 139-141.

* Jackson’s 60-yard touchdown catch from McNabb in the third quarter was the Eagles’ fourth one-play touchdown drive of the season. They’ve also had 5 two-play TD drives.